Colt partially owned by Mike Tice wins impressively in debut

You may recall former Vikings coach Mike Tice cashing a big Pick Six score this summer at Del Mar Race Course.

Well, Tice continues to run hot at the race track.

Midnight Hawk, a two-year-old colt in which Tice reportedly owns a stake, drew off to win in fine fashion on Friday afternoon at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California.

According to Daily Racing Form, Tice and Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville are among the owners of the young gray/roan horse, who made his debut on Friday for trainer Bob Baffert. Tice was an assistant with the Bears from 2010 through 2012, serving as offensive coordinator in his final season.

Star jockey Mike Smith had the call on Midnight Hawk, who broke slowly, worked his way into closer contention, drew even on the turn, then pulled away for a stylish victory of a little more than six lengths. Midnight Hawk was timed in 1:29 and two-fifths seconds.

The winner’s share of the purse is $27,000. However, that’s only part of the story. Fast two-year-old colts can be very valuable; if Midnight Hawk is judged to have run fast, he could be worth quite a bit.

Now, we wait to see where Midnight Hawk runs next. Hollywood Park will close for good in less than two weeks, and Southern California’s thoroughbred racing shifts to Santa Anita Park. Given his debut, a shot in a stakes race could be coming in 2014 for Midnight Hawk.

I’m being honest here. How is pitting horses in a race against eachother any different than pitting pitbulls against eachother? Yeah, the horses don’t necesarily die when they lose, but these races most definitely take its toll on the horses. That’s why we see horses being ‘put to sleep’ (AKA killed once they lose their usefullness) all the time.

I don’t think I’m alone in saying the majority of us do not care about tangential stories such as this. For future reference, we won’t care about whether or not Bubby Brister did well in the stock market.

@bears0492:
You really think racing horses is the same as fighting dogs? Wow!
And they just don’t kill horses when they aren’t useful. Horses are put down when they have serious injuries that threaten their lives. Otherwise they they get used for breeding. Which isn’t a bad way to live out the rest of their lives.

A Viking story about an ex-coach and his horse. This is what happens when your team is irrelevant halfway through the season. The Packer haters then come up with the same, old, tired, personal insults. That’s all they have. That’s all the ammunition they have. It’s like they fight with water balloons and we fight with bazookas……every year.

mackcarrington says:
Dec 13, 2013 10:13 PM
@bears0492:
You really think racing horses is the same as fighting dogs? Wow!
And they just don’t kill horses when they aren’t useful. Horses are put down when they have serious injuries that threaten their lives. Otherwise they they get used for breeding. Which isn’t a bad way to live out the rest of their lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, if a horse has an injury that threatens its life (maybe/not certain) the solution is not to try to treat or save the horse, but to kill it before the injury does? Really? No. The reason horses are put down so often in cases like that is a convenience issue and a money issue. They are no longer useful and therefor no longer worth the cost of keeping them alive. That’s the sad truth of today. Back in the days of the wild west it was a mercy killing. With today’s technology and medicine, not so much.